


Feeding the Rumor Mill

by kanashimibeast



Series: OutcomeShipping [7]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: But with a happy ending, In which the paparazzi finds out that Leon and Raihan are dating, Light Angst, M/M, and these idiots have to decide what to do about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:47:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21784708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanashimibeast/pseuds/kanashimibeast
Summary: Leon and Raihan haven't made their relationship public yet, but they like it better that way. They like having the privacy.But when you're a public figure, privacy is a luxury you don't always get.
Relationships: Leon/Raihan
Series: OutcomeShipping [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550740
Comments: 44
Kudos: 568





	Feeding the Rumor Mill

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested I invite you to find me on tumblr @Kanashimibeast! I would love having more people to talk to about this ship!

Raihan awoke to his phone buzzing.

That wasn’t odd, he was used to getting notifications at all hours. Most of the time he tuned them out. It was always the same stream of comments on his selfies; the thirsty fans complimenting him and the trolls he would eventually block, so he rolled over to shove his face into the pillow instead. 

Leon was warm beside him, collapsed on the sheets and out cold after the intense bout of fucking from the night before, and Raihan smiled as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. This time they were in Leon’s apartment in Wyndon, and while Raihan always prefer the comfort of his own apartment in Hammerlocke, he was just happy to spend the night with Leon no matter where they were. He didn’t care if they spent the night fucking in a tent pitched in the middle of a snowstorm just outside of Circhester, he just wanted to be with Leon.

He tried to fall back asleep, but his phone kept buzzing. Raihan frowned. It was sporadic enough that it wasn’t someone calling him, but the notifications poured in as a steady, unending stream that even he wasn’t used to. Something was off.

Reluctantly, he rolled over again and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. His screen was a mess of notifications, from Pokegram and Uproar and even his instant messenger. Raihan frowned and opened his instant messenger first.

He had messages from at least half of the gym leaders and most of his gym staff, and he almost didn’t know where to start. Eventually he shook himself and checked his message from Piers first. _You checked Galar Daily lately?_ Piers wrote.

Raihan frowned. _That fucking rag?_ He wrote back. _I don’t waste time on gossip, mate._

He only had to wait a minute or two before Piers sent a reply. _I’d take a look if I were you._

Raihan’s frown deepened. He checked through his other personal messages and found that they ran along a similar vein. _“Seen the latest Galar Daily issue?” “You’re not gonna like what Galar Daily just put out.” “OMG I just saw the new Galar Daily article, is it true???”_

Raihan pulled up his browser and tapped in the address for the Galar Daily’s website as fast as he could. He didn’t have to search long for the article in question. They had it plastered right at the top of the home page, a headline in massive block lettering: SPOTTED! RAIHAN AND LEON - SECRETLY DATING?

Raihan wouldn’t have been as worried about it if the headline didn’t also come with a photo.

He stared down at his phone. The photo was a paparazzi shot, far off and a little bit blurry, but he and Leon were still clearly recognizable. It looked like it had been taken when he was walking Leon back to his apartment the night before. Even worse, he and Leon were quite clearly holding hands.

“Fucking Arceus,” he swore, narrowing his eyes down at the phone. “I fucking _hate_ the paparazzi.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Leon. Leon was still asleep, having not heard a word he said, and Raihan intended to keep it that way for a while. He bit his lip to hold in more curses and switched over to his social media accounts to see what people were saying there.

As expected, people were freaking out over the article. Most of them wanted to know if really was dating Leon, and a few of them were arguing in the comments over whether the article was real or not. He scrolled through the comments with a frown. Arceus, there were _hundreds_ of them. Just how long ago had the article dropped? How far along had the rumor mill already spun?

More notifications kept coming in. Raihan didn’t even bother keeping up with them, he just ignored them as he scrolled through his feed in a numb haze. What was he supposed to do? Play dumb? Denounce the article as rumor-mongering trash? Or go along with it and just admit that he and Leon were dating?

He looked over his shoulder at Leon. They didn’t need to keep their relationship secret anymore, since Leon wasn’t the champion, but they’d still enjoyed the privacy. As public figures they had almost every aspect of themselves in the spotlight, but as boyfriends, they had some relative peace and quiet. No one brought up their relationship in interviews, left mean comments on their feeds about it, or demanded to know everything from their favorite date spot to when they were getting married. It had been nice.

And now that was over.

Raihan flopped back against the pillow with a groan. Leon shifted and raised his head, still groggy, and blinked at him a few times. “What’s wrong?”

Raihan pulled up the article again and handed his phone to Leon. “This is.”

Leon took the phone, blinking again, and stared down at the screen. It took a second for it to sink in, but then his eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”

“You’re telling me.” Raihan sighed. “My feed’s blowing up with comments and questions about it. So much for keeping our relationship a secret.”

Leon winced. “There’s gotta be something we can do,” he said, handing Raihan’s phone back to him and looking around for his own phone. He snatched it up from the other beside table and switched it on. He then groaned. “Arceus, I haven’t had this many notifications since I lost the championship.”

“Funny, I think that’s also the last time I had this many notifications.” Raihan tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but his heart just wasn’t in it. He switched back to his instant messenger to start replying to some of the messages there, mostly to make the notifications go away, and he kept his responses to a short, terse _I’ve seen it._ He didn’t dare say more than that yet.

But he took a different approach with Piers. _Any idea what the hell I’m supposed to do about this???_ He wrote.

It took a couple minutes for Piers to write back. _Hell if I know,_ he replied. _This is your relationship, not mine._

 _C’mon Piers, I really need some help right now,_ Raihan said, frowning as he tapped in his reply. _You think the rumors will go away if we ignore them?_

 _Don’t think so,_ was Piers’s response. _They got a photo, and they’re gonna come for more. The paparazzi’s like fuckin Eelektriks when they latch on. You and Leon are gonna have to address this somehow._

Raihan groaned. _How the fuck do we do that???_

 _No fuckin clue,_ Piers replied. _Like I said, not my relationship. Depends on what you and Leon want._

Raihan stole a glance over at Leon. Leon was staring down at his screen, brow furrowed and fingers tapping away, presumably messaging someone just like Raihan had been messaging Piers. Raihan frowned. “Who’re you talking to?”

“Sonia.” Leon’s face was grim. “She’s been keeping an eye on the situation, and it’s starting to spiral out of control. More and more websites are putting out articles about the photo. They’re all trying to put their own spin on it too.”

“You know, maybe we can at least sue them for libel and get a good payout if nothing else,” Raihan said, flat and dry. He leaned over Leon’s shoulder to look at his screen. Sonia was repeatedly assuring Leon that the situation wasn’t all that bad, but judging from Leon’s expression, he wasn’t buying it. “Look, Leon, we gotta get ahead of this situation before the rumor mill spins out of control.”

“But how?” Leon turned to look at him, desperate. “What do we say? I’m not sure if I’m ready to make this public yet… not like this.”

Raihan sighed. “I know.” He wrapped his arms around Leon’s shoulders and held him close. Leon’s warmth provided some small comfort, so he buried his face in Leon’s neck to take refuge in that warmth. He had no idea what to do. They’d talked before about making their relationship public, but they’d never envisioned a scenario like this. He didn’t want to come out under duress.

Leon suddenly snorted in amusement. Raihan looked up with a frown. “What’s so funny?”

“Sonia just found where the photo originally came from.” Leon held out his phone to Raihan, biting his lip to keep back more laughter. “Apparently the Galar Daily wasn’t the first one to report on it.”

Raihan’s frown deepened, but he took the phone and looked down at it. Leon’s browser was open on a website he didn’t understand, but judging from the URL it was based somewhere outside of Galar, and it looked like the webpage had been poorly translated into English by someone who didn’t speak it very well. He saw the paparazzi phot of him and Leon towards the top of the page, and underneath it, a headline.

THE RUMOR COME OUT, it read. DOES FORMER CHAMPION LEON IS GAY?

Raihan couldn’t help it, he laughed. It was too ridiculous for him not to. “What the fuck is this?”

Leon nudged him. “Keep reading.”

Raihan did so, scrolling down the page and reading aloud as he did so. “Does former Champion Leon is gay is the most discussed in the media in the few years ago,” he said, trying very, _very_ hard to keep a straight face and not burst out laughing again. “Even it has happened in that year that this is, but some of the public still curious about what is exactly happening and to be the reason there is a rumor comes out about his gay--”

He couldn’t keep going, needing to bury his face in Leon’s shoulder again to muffle his laughter. Leon was also snickering. “Oh man,” Raihan managed, “I don’t know if I can read any more of that.”

“You _have_ to.” Leon gave him another nudge, looking at him with bright eyes and a grin. “Please, it gets even better.”

Raihan had to get out a few more laughs before he could look back at the phone and keep reading. “At that time he became the massive social networking rumor,” he continued. “The public, especially his fans are shocked. He just came out with his bad rumor which has spread massively. This time is not about his battle career but his bad rumor. The rumor is out of standardize of hoax.”

Leon was laughing so hard he was wheezing. Raihan was having a hard time keeping his laughter in as well. “According to the last reported, the former champion revealed himself as homosexual,” he read, snickering through it all. “Do you still believe or not? This rumor is really much talked by people even in a person of his fans.”

He gave up after that, leaning against Leon for support while he laughed. They ended up laughing like that for a good few minutes, earlier worries temporarily forgotten in the wake of the absurdity of it all. “Fucking Arceus,” Raihan managed to gasp out eventually. “If this situation weren’t so damn serious, I would have put that article on all my social media accounts in a heartbeat.”

“I know,” Leon said, breathless with laughter. He shook himself and laughed again. “Oh, I needed that laugh. I needed that so much.”

“Same.” Raihan smiled, but his good mood wavered as the laughter started to die down. He handed Leon’s phone back to him. “But we do need to figure out what we’re gonna do.”

“Yeah, I know.” Leon took a deep breath, his expression sobering. He glanced over at Raihan. “For what it’s worth, I think we should just be honest. I’m sure our fans will support us.”

Raihan raised an eyebrow. “What about the paparazzi?”

Leon shrugged. “They were already hounding us even before we started dating,” he said. “They’ll find anything to latch onto and write articles about.”

“Good point.” Raihan’s eye twitched. “They once wrote an article solely devoted to how I wore the same pair of jeans three days in a row.”

Leon laughed. “I think I got you beat,” he said. “I got a 1,000 word article about my armpit sweat. That’s it. They were literally just analyzing my pit stains.”

“Damn, you got me beat in everything, huh?” Raihan smirked at him. The situation still made him uneasy, but laughing at the article with Leon had lightened the mood somewhat, and it was easier for him to think clearly when his heart wasn’t racing with anxiety. “But, I think you’re right. Might as well come out with it.”

“Yeah, it’s for the best.” Leon leaned against Raihan with a sigh. “But I am gonna miss this being our little secret.”

“Hey, we’ll still have some secrets.” Raihan stole a quick kiss. “Just because people know that we’re dating doesn’t mean they get to know what sort of things we do behind closed doors. That’s only for me and you to know.”

Leon chuckled. “And Piers.”

“And Piers,” Raihan agreed, with a shrug. “But close enough.”

“Mmm.” Leon wrapped an arm around Raihan’s waist. “So, how are we going to go about this?”

Raihan picked up his rotom phone. “I have an idea.”

Leon glanced at him, one eyebrow raised. Raihan just grinned and opened his camera app. Leon glanced down at the screen, saw what Raihan was doing, and his eyes lit up with understanding. He smiled and nodded.

Raihan let his rotom phone float out of his hands and hover in front of them. “Take a series,” he told it, and then he pulled Leon in for a kiss.

It wasn’t a very rough kiss, but Raihan hadn’t intended for it to be one. He cupped a hand around Leon’s cheek to keep him close and drank in the addicting taste of his lips, and when he felt like the kiss had gone on for long enough, he pulled back and winked at the camera. Leon followed his example. Raihan almost laughed to see it. Say what he could about Leon, but he always was the perfect showman.

His rotom phone chirped to let them know that it was done. Raihan took hold of his phone so he could swipe through the photos. Even though it was just a kiss, the photos were still plenty suggestive. He and Leon were both shirtless, and what little of the background was visible made it obvious that they were in someone’s bedroom, and most likely in bed together. That wasn’t even taking into account the numerous bite marks up and down Leon’s neck.

He showed the photos to Leon. “You sure about this?”

“I am.” Leon chuckled. “Although I’m sure the media will have a field day with it.”

“You’re telling me.” Raihan laughed and opened up pokegram. “I don’t know who will be worse, them or our fans.”

Said fans were still flooding his feed with notifications, but Raihan ignored that in favor of creating a new post. He uploaded his favorite photos from the set, toyed with the filters to make sure that and Looked perfect, and tapped in a quick caption. Leon leaned over his shoulder to see what he was doing, so Raihan held the phone up for him to see the finished draft.

_Not how I expected to come out, but yes, the rumors ARE true! You lot wish your boyfriend looked this good ;) #selfie #chillingwiththebf #havingachampiontime_

Leon grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Raihan grinned back and hit “done,” then set his phone aside and wrapped his arms around Leon’s neck. “So, while the internet freaks out over that,” he said, his grin cheeky as he pulled Leon in closer, “how ‘bout you and I do the sort of thing they’ll never get to see?”

“You’re insatiable,” Leon said, but he rolled them both over so that Raihan was on top of them, grinning the whole time. Raihan laughed and leaned down to kiss him. Leon arched up into him, warm and supple, perfect in a way no one else was.

From off to the side, Raihan heard his phone blowing up with even more notifications than before. _I’ll deal with that later,_ he thought, as he kicked the covers aside and focused entirely on ravishing the man he loved.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've never had the good fortune to experience the magnificence that is "Does Bruno Mars is Gay," please do yourself a favor and watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uy4jBAc6NQ


End file.
